Polly Horvath

Dear Polly Horvath,

I always enjoy reading your books. I remember reading Everything on a Waffle and loving it, but with a niggling question: Which of my students will read this? Since reading more of your works, that question has become amplified. I really struggle with who your audience is. The characters are right for children and although the plot line is a little eccentric, there are students who would enjoy that. Your writing is superb but the flights of linguistic fancy often seem above what most of our readers would enjoy. Recently, because I’m really trying to figure you out, I read The Canning Season. Once again, it is full of quirky characters and a plot that dazzles the mind. But as I encountered some of your language choice, I thought, oh,no- this is not appropriate for my younger students for whom the story seems intended. But the characters appear to be too young for my YA (Young Adult) shelf and definitely too young for high school. So in all good conscience, where do I put this? To whom do I recommend this? I came to conclude that this should be an adult book. It would not take a great deal of revising in order for it to take on the quality of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, which it so reminded me of in terms of style and audience.

I also recently read My One Hundred Adventures. This seemed much more accessible to our elementary readers and I look forward to testing it out on some of my more discerning readers. Although, once again, there are many implausible scenes, it moves along at quite a sharp pace.

Reading The Corps of the Bare Boned Planes last year was what really set me off on this “who is you audience” rant. See the post I wrote on this at that time, which explains some of my frustration in trying to come to an understanding of you as a most excellent author.

So once again, dear Polly, you are an amazing writer. I just think that you need to decide for whom your writing is best suited. I will continue to read your offerings and perhaps I will find that indeed they have a child audience that I am as yet unaware of. We adult readers adore you!